Dark Lord of Konoha
by James Tuddrussell
Summary: The Hokage gave Naruto a comic book as a reward, but in doing so exposed the impressionable young boy to glamourous life of costumed villainy! He has tasted it's fruits, and found them sweet.


Dark lord of Konoha: Arc One, Chapter One

The night was young, and so was the blond haired troublemaker hiding on the roof of the ninja academy. Naruto sat there as he often did, reading a comic book that the Hokage gave him. Unfortunately the comic he was reading had a super hero that reminded him all too much of Sasuke.

The hero was a dark haired pretty boy who was loved by the people. As he read more of the comic Naruto found himself identifying with the villain. He was a blond haired, pariah just as he was... But this guy was never ignored, he was never ashamed of himself. However, the thing that got Naruto's attention the most was that no matter how many times the hero beat him, he never gave up, he always kept his head held high.

Naruto smirked. "I would be the best villain ever!" He squinted, and looked toward the market quarter... If he was going to be a villain, he would need to look the part!

Naruto spent the next few weeks scavenging for cloth, discarded ninja tools, more comics, shinobi tape, ninja mesh, money, scrap metal, and anything he'd think he'd need for his new path in life. He piled his loot on his living room floor, and he began his work.

He sewed the larger pieces of cloth into a hooded cloak, and reinforced the inside with ninja mesh. He added a great many pouches to his new, albeit ragged, pants. He fashioned a utility belt out of scrap leather, and discarded pouches. He filled them with mysterious vials he found in the hazardous waste bins behind the shinobi hospital, bits of sharp metal that were probably once shuriken, stale smoke pellets, tangled ninja wire, and an assortment of other small things he thought would be of use

The finishing touches to his outfit was a pair of leather-backed goggles, some tattered smithing gloves, mountaineering boots, a leather chestguard with metal plating, leather shoulder pads that were actually old knee pads, and a kunai launcher he made from a broken crossbow and an old vembrace. He dyed his outfit black as near he could. It wasn't the standard green/brown camouflage typical of a leaf nin, but at night he would be little more than a non-specific silhouette. Perfect for psychological warfare. Thinking along those lines he fastened pieces of broken shuriken onto his armour and gloves, giving him a menacingly spiky appearance.

He started training whenever he could get away with it, and took up pranking to help hone his villainous abilities. Within a few months reports of a creature prowling the village at night begun making their way to the Hokage's desk. Among the village shinobi the legendary "Shade Walker" becomes something of a mythological figure. A ghost story to scare the rookies with.

The ANBU team twenty-seven has garnered a reputation as the ghost buster squad after they were assigned the mission of tracking the Shade Walker. Over the years Naruto spent in the Academy he had more close calls than he knew, but every time they cornered him he'd either pull some new toy out of his belt, duck into a nook, hide in a cranny, or lead them into a trap. Naruto won every single time not because he was better than them, but rather because he expected them and accounted for their presence.

In Naruto's final year at the Academy, he abruptly stopped his nighty escapades. He still trained, and kept refining his gear, but he was through playing games in the dark. Naruto smiled darkly as he scribbled on his ninja history worksheet, Konoha's Dark Lord was nearly ready to take his first step into the light. It will need to be suitably grand.

AN: This was a bit rushed, I'll admit, but only because there are many deliciously awesome things to come.

Before you ask: Naruto is not going to be evil, he's not going to be monstrously powerful, and he's not going to become a child Hokage. If he ever becomes Hokage, it'll be much later.

He is pretty much just canon Naruto with more training, a darker look, some rather odd ideas about what it means to be a hero, and even odder ones about what it means to be a villain. In other words: Same guy, different outlook.


End file.
